The Art of Being Alone
by The Laughing Fool
Summary: The anniversary of his clan's massacre had always made Sasuke want to be alone, but with all the sake in his system, he's not really sure what he wants anymore. Maybe Naruto can help him figure it out-involves hammock, Clueless!Naruto and Brooding!Sasuke


**Title: **The Art of Being Alone**  
**

**Summary:** The anniversary of his clan's massacre had always made Sasuke want to be alone, but with all the sake in his system, he's not really sure what he wants anymore. Maybe Naruto can help him figure it !-involves hammock, Clueless!Naruto and Brooding!Sasuke.

**Note: **Sorry to disappoint, but there's no explicit yaoi, lemony goodness here- you'll have to settle on non-explicit yaoi fluff if you dare to read this angsty fic.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. If I did, there would be a lot more NaruSasu in it.

And here...we...go-

* * *

_ The pain of being lonely... is out of this world, isn't it?_

_ -Naruto_

* * *

He hated remembering that night.

It was the driving force of everything he did, it had shaped him into who he was, but Sasuke tried very hard to push it to the back of his mind. For the most part…he was unsuccessful.

But moping was hardly productive, he told himself, no matter how naturally it came to him. On a daily basis he faced the fate that was handed to him with cynicism and angry determination and it didn't bother him that he had become unpleasant to people. Those things didn't matter. In his opinion he could have been a lot worse for wear. His life had been torn apart all of those years ago and he dealt with that burden every day.

Every.

_Single. _

Day.

And this was a day too. Just like any other day-all of the other days, in fact. Monday, Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday- there was no actual difference.

But it didn't really matter how many times he tried to convince himself that today was no different from, say, yesterday and that it would be no different from next Tuesday either. Because it was different, in a small way.

It was the _anniversary_.

Sasuke understood that trying to merely forget the massacre of his clan was unforgivable. But that was just it, he didn't want to forget. He didn't want to _try_ and erase the haunting memories from his mind. He just wanted it to happen. He wanted to wake up one morning and not know who he was.

As vindictive as he felt, Sasuke, every so often, just wanted to disappear in an unseen breeze and let someone else handle all of this...nonsense.

And then he'd hate himself for being so weak.

_I truly am pathetic._

Every year on the anniversary, Sasuke would wake up with an exhausting sense of dread and excuse himself from training for the day. He simply wouldn't show and Kakashi never pestered him about it; Sasuke figured his sensei knew his reason-it was hardly a secret to anyone who did the math- but he couldn't muster gratitude for the man.

The anniversary was the one day he completely allowed himself to sulk without reservation. Sasuke knew very well that he was no orange-clad, ball of _sunshine_ but he also knew that on a daily basis he wasn't nearly as dismal as he could be. The anniversary was the day he let expectations just suck it. And that included his own.

So there he was, The Uchiha heir, sharingan master, respectable chunnin-in-training-completely getting sloshed alone at the empty training grounds. Sasuke sat, leaning against a tree with several bottles of sake standing around him. He didn't bother with cups. No, drinking had a purpose tonight. He didn't need to bother with those little cups the bottle suited him just fine.

The store owner couldn't have cared less that Sasuke was below the drinking age; he had money and he he was a ninja of Konoha. If he could go off and kill people for the good of the village, surely he could drink on his own time. The woman hadn't questioned him as she handed Sasuke his large sack of booze and Sasuke couldn't have been happier with the arrangement. He was 15 and, in his opinion, more of an adult at his age than most of his peers.

He sat there, looking up at the night sky staring at it with a look far too old for such a young kid to have. He took a swig of the first bottle and winced.

Sasuke had no appreciation for alcohol which was fine because this wasn't supposed to be fun. He actually hated the taste of sake specifically and this was extremely cheap sake at that, so the absolute disgusting taste of the liquid wasn't unexpected. He sucked it up and took another drink. Pretty soon, he figured, he'd be too drunk to notice.

Every swig burned the back of his throat, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth but he dealt with it quietly. To an outside observer his face was utterly unreadable, not that anyone else was there. He took another drink.

_How does Tsunade stand this stuff?_

He tried to keep his mind blank as he looked around the training field, discarded shukurin and kunai littered the grass and those _stupid _poles stood tall and menacing near the edge of his vision. He wanted to be calm and empty-serene- but that was as ineffective as Naruto's attempts at subtlety so he tried a different approach. Every time a thought of his family popped into his head he took a long drink. And as you can probably imagine it didn't take long to get to a second bottle. And then a third. And by the time he had polished off the fourth, his memories were effectively drowned in a fog of incomprehension and bitter-smelling breath.

His eyes were half-lidded and while he had momentarily succeeded in forgetting his familial troubles, Sasuke's alcohol-induced brain was coming up with all sorts of weird tangents now that he was relaxed; he was thinking about the stupidest of things. Naruto, in particular.

He scowled to himself. Why the on earth couldn't he get the guy out of his mind? Well, he _knew _why, but he didn't want to think about that right now. It bothered him enough to consider _those_ kinds of thoughts while sober, he didn't really want to think about it with the relaxed, fairly unguarded mind that he had now._ Alright, _thought Sasuke, _Just don't think about him. Think about-_

_Well, why not?_

Just imagining Naruto, here- at the training grounds with him- dodging rogue kunai, twisting his agile body, running with a grace no one really understood that he had, fighting with fierce skill that no one could determine when he got it.

The fact was that Naruto was getting _good. _More than good, he was getting great. And that pissed Sasuke off on fundamental level but at the very same time it...dare he say it? _Excited_ him-

_Fuck no._

Naruto was nothing more than his rival. It was Sasuke's goal to not only to kill his brother-

-Sasuke took a deep drink-

-but it was also to beat Naruto. And he would, he knew it, but their battles were getting closer and closer and Naruto was even coming out on top in the long run. Naruto was developing his ninja skills at an alarming rate, way faster than an average ninja, and while Sasuke was no average ninja, it was getting difficult to remain the best. Sasuke's pride could only attribute Naruto's abilities to his friend's strongest and most mysterious point.

His chakra.

Sasuke didn't understand the mysterious red chakra that Naruto would occasionally get- maybe the dobe had a bloodline trait that no one knew about. But it was one of his strongest suits; it was how he could call dozens of shadow clones without getting tired and Sasuke suspected that there was more to it than just a power boost, but he couldn't think of what.

_Enough of this bullshit._

Sasuke vaguely decided that it was getting too late to remain outside; he had been sitting there staring at nothing for who knows how long and with the sake warm in his stomach all he really wanted to do was sleep. But he couldn't go to sleep at the training grounds-that was simply not an option in his mind. He clumsily shoved the one remaining corked sake bottle into his pouch and pushed himself up off the ground-

Only to stumble over again onto his shoulder. He scowled, paused, slowly got up and paused again, pleased at his success- and headed towards the Uchiha district. By the time he made it to out of the woods and into the city streets he had fallen over three times and now that he was in an area populated by people, Sasuke put all of his effort into walking with grace. He turned the corner to continue on to his home-

And then he stopped.

He didn't want to go home.

The street was mostly empty and the only lights were a few flickering street lanterns and the moon above. Sasuke stared at it, feeling helpless to the dismay that crept into him. It lacked the sinister red haze that surrounded it that night, but it was full and made him shudder all the same. He looked down to his feet and wished it would just go away. Then he cursed the sake for not doing its job properly at all. It had only made his slow, it hadn't made him forget anything.

He fumbled in his pouch for the sake bottle and let out a frustrated noise when his fingers wouldn't work and he quit his effort, thinking, _what's the point?_

Sasuke wanted to be anywhere other than the Uchiha district tonight and he considered his options through his relatively slow thought process:

Sakura was…an absolute 'no'.

God, no.

He didn't trust her to not do anything he wouldn't later regret. He _knew _that Sakura lusted after him and showing up to her house late at night, dizzy from drink was far too compromising a position for him to be in. He'd never be _that _drunk, he was certain.

Kakashi was his sensei and as such had an obligation to see that Sasuke didn't die for the sake of his team. But a night on the streets would hardly kill the teen, so there'd be little to no sympathy there. On top of all that, it would be decidedly too odd to crash at Kakashi's place-if the nin would even _let _him.

Which he _wouldn't_.

Even through his murky mind, the thought of going to Kakashi's flat and asking if he could spend the night because he was too scared to go home was far too humiliating for Sasuke to even bother considering fully.

Kakashi granted Sasuke moody-lenience for one day out of the year-today- but even that was pushing it. If he pulled a stunt like that Sasuke would be at the mercy of lame jabs and heckling for the rest of his life. That was unacceptable.

_Besides,_ Sasuke realized dimly, _I don't even know where Kakashi lives._

There was just one other person…

Sasuke didn't want to go to Naruto, he didn't hedidn'thedidn't. But why deny it now? He could deny it later when he was sober. Sasuke had realized, not too long ago, that he maybe sort of kind of not really but possibly probably absolutely had a small crush on the blonde.

Which was _impossibly _irritating to Sasuke. When he finally understood what his hormones had been screaming him (and it certainly took him long enough) the Uchiha had to stop and groan at the unfairness of it all.

_Out of all the people in Konoha, the whole WORLD even- I had to fall in love with that stupid, loud-mouthed, idiotic, pumpkin-colored DOBE._

If fate was going to keep kicking him in the balls, Sasuke really had to start wearing a cup. This was getting ridiculous.

He didn't try to wonder too much _why_ he was attracted to Naruto but he unmistakably _was_. And if his fantisizing at the training grounds was any indication, there were many reasons why he could be attracted to him. He was powerful, strong, and no one could deny he was physically attractive.

But he was _annoying. _And _stupid. _And could just say the right thing to _piss off _Sasuke into liking him more.

And they were best friends.

Begrudgingly.

And Sasuke thought that he was doing a decent job at hiding his longing with scowls but Sasuke had the slight suspicion that Kakashi knew. Being the perverted bastard that his sensei was, Sasuke wouldn't have been at all surprised. His sensei was lazy and odd, but no one could call him inattentive to detail. The guy knew _everything _somehow and his observation skills could boarder on omniscient if he was interested in whatever it was he was sticking his nose into.

And unfortunately, finding ways to embarrass his students was always high on his priority list.

Going to Naruto's apartment didn't sound like such a bad idea, he convinced himself. It's not like Sasuke couldn't control his lust for the other teen, he could. He'd done it in practices, on missions, in the bath houses- God help him-this was no different. In fact this was even better; Sasuke was far too tired to try anything with Naruto who would most likely refuse him anyway. He'd just walk in, and sleep on the couch, wake up in the morning and leave. So. Simple.

A couple walked by and curiously stared at Sasuke as they went, wondering why the teen was staring off straight ahead with such a glazed look on his face in the middle of the road. Deciding on his course of action, he quickly turned around with such a speed that he startled the couple, only to stagger a bit at the suddenness of his own movements. Quite pleased with the fact that he hadn't fallen down, Sasuke made a haphazard journey towards his friend's home.

Blink.

He was standing in front of Naruto's apartment door in a dimly lit hallway. He paused and looked intently at the door for a few moments, wondering what he should do next. He lifted his hand carefully and rapped at the door softly, fearing it would break.

When nothing happened he banged a little louder and when no one came within the next few moments Sasuke decided that Naruto was being very rude indeed. Without thinking, Sasuke brought a quick side kick to the door, effectively breaking it off its hinges and sending it crashing into the small apartment.

Unfortunately that kick was too much for Sasuke to handle and he too went flying into Naruto's apartment by tripping on the remaining doorframe, landing gracefully on his face.

"Ow…"

He clumsily got up and brushed himself off, nearly falling over again but catching his balance at the last second.

"Naruto?"

Sasuke stared around the dark apartment. It was cluttered and the wooden floor was covered with a carpet of orange clothing and ramen wrappers. A small, uneven bed was pushed to the far corner and an assortment of weaponry laid on every flat surface.

Furthermore it was a one bedroom apartment.

And Sasuke was the only one _in _it.

_Where is that idiot? _Sasuke wondered. He starred into the shadows around the small bedside table, honestly believing that Naruto would emerge from them, that stupid grin plastered on his face.

But nothing happened. Sasuke remained unmoving for a few more moments and as he looked around the quiet and unmistakably empty room, he felt a stab of loneliness he wasn't prepared for. His breath hitched in his throat and he couldn't take it. It was too much so he fled to the street.

Sasuke felt bitter. Alcohol was supposed to make him numb. Not occasionally numb whenever his brain felt like it with an equal chance at becoming emotionally explosive over the _stupidest _of things.

He trudged towards the Uchiha complex with an attitude of resignation. Sasuke didn't want to go home, but he really didn't have any other options. He pushed back the rising fear he felt and carefully set his face back into a neutral expression. He let all thoughts drain from him.

He felt dead and, _how appropriate for the occasion_ he mused, eyelids half closed.

"Yo."

Sasuke didn't turn around to face Kakashi. He kept walking, trying to eliminate the sway in his step. He was somewhat successful.

"Hey, brat," Kakashi was walking beside him in step in an instant with annoying ease, "you know it's rude not to acknowledge your sensei when he's talking to you, right?"

Kakashi's nose was buried deep in an old icha icha volume, his voice a bored drawl, the sound grated on the Uchiha even more than usual. Sasuke resisted the urge to cover his ears, fearing it would be too undignified.

"It's none of your business why I went to Naruto's apartment." Sasuke said with all the authority he could muster. He had to wait a full three seconds after he spoke to understand his poor choice of words and the implications of them. Kakashi's eye crinkled in amusement.

"Isn't it?" He asked, "Hm. How much Sake have you had tonight, Sasuke?"

"I haven't had any-"He said as his extra bottle fell from his pouch and smashed onto the ground. They both looked down at it and Sasuke glared for a moment before resuming his walk.

"You're drunk." Kakashi declared, once again walking in pace beside him as if he'd never left.

"Whatever." Sasuke didn't want to argue.

"You are drunk and your first instinct was to go to Naruto's. Interesting-"

"What? No-what?" Sasuke was flustered and turned to give Kakashi a menacing glare but he couldn't adjust his face to be properly threatening. "No," he hissed, "it's not like that. My first instinct was to go to _your_ place."

Kakashi lifted his eyebrows and Sasuke could see the shape of a smirk behind the nin's mask,

"Oh _really_?" Kakashi asked, absolute _glee_ lacing his tone, "That's hardly appropriate, Sasuke, you are in fact my pupil-and not really my type, no offense-"

"That's-That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"The other team leaders would probably get on my case if I started an illicit relationship with one of my students. It's generally frowned upon. I hear, anyway. You being drunk really would help either-"

Sasuke took a poorly aimed swipe at the man who didn't even have to look up from his book to dodge it. Sasuke huffed, feeling rather affronted and continued on.

"Why are you following me?" Sasuke was getting angrier by the moment. He had never before truly understood how _annoying _Kakashi was until now, "Leave me alone."

"How rude," Kakashi said in an uninterested tone, "I take my _own_ time to escort you; the training-session skipping, drunken, hormonal teenager that you are, safely to your home through dangerous, back-alley Konoha and what do I get for it?" He asked the contents of his book, "Rudeness. I am shocked. Simply shocked."

Sasuke spent the rest of the walk home in silence wishing the nin was gone. He considered sprinting for it, but couldn't bring himself to trust his lacking coordination. He wondered viciously why Kakashi didn't just _teleport _them to Sasuke's house but the answer soon became all too obvious. Sasuke could feel the silent laughter simply radiating off of Kakashi every time Sasuke tripped and fell over. He vowed he'd get him back later. Somehow.

When he made it to the gates of the Uchiha complex Sasuke stopped for a moment. He felt his stomach knot and with Kakashi there, Sasuke made certain his face was blank.

"Get some sleep, brat."

He turned to tell Kakashi to scram, only to note that he was already gone. He left just as easily as he came. Sasuke scowled. This really was a shitty night all around.

He made his way through the empty streets, past vacant buildings and with every step into the familiar neighborhood, the numbness and detachment Sasuke had worked so hard to get, was all starting to fade.

Blink.

_Oh please no._

It was happening again. With one blink the streets were empty and with another they were filled with corpses.

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

It wasn't real.

Blood pooled underneath the stiffened bodies that were splayed over the curbs and into the streets. It stained the walls of buildings, giving them a sickly shine. Kunai and shuriken stood erect from battered walls and bodies, paper lanterns were shredded, remnants of dying fires made the night smell of death with a distinctly charred flavor.

It wasn't real it wasn'titwasn'titwasn't. Why wouldn't his mind listen to him?

He remembered not being able to scream at first. Everything was so surreal. His stomach turned to ice as he thought of his parents and his brother-had they been killed too? Who could have done this? Why?

He ran to his home and he passed his aunt's body, almost vomiting. Her neck had been torn away, the blood caked her hair and plastered it to the sides of her face, it was frozen in agony. He didn't understand. He had spoken to her hours ago. She wished him a good day, she told him to stop by on his way back home, she had something for his mother-

But he withheld his full-blown panic. He needed to know if Itachi, Mother and Father were alive. They could not be dead. Sasuke tried to calm himself; Itachi was the strongest in the village, if anyone were to survive it would be him-

And he had.

Blink.

Sasuke ran into his house, hitting his shoulder roughly on the door frame and clumsily bolting into the room where his parents were murdered. The room where Itachi had waited for him.

It was empty.

Why were empty rooms so frightening to him?

Sasuke tried to steady his breathing but his eyes were wild. He couldn't keep up with his irrational fear, he couldn't think logically and he no longer was trying to. He had the distinct feeling that someone was here and while that was impossible he wanted to believe it so badly.

His father was in his study, his mother was calling him to dinner and Itachi was in the living room; too busy to help him train as always. Things were normal again. Normal made sense and it was safe. If things were normal he wouldn't be afraid all the time, he wouldn't be so ashamed that he was afraid. He wouldn't be so tired.

_No. No one is here. They're all dead. Everyone's dead, remember? They're dead._

Images and memories were all blurring together and he felt powerless to stop it. The words snaked their way through his ears;

'_You are weak. Why are you so weak? Because you lack... hatred.'_

_'You still don't have enough hatred, Sasuke. And you want to know something?...You never will.'  
_

But Itachi was wrong. Sasuke had hatred. He had so much hatred it burned his throat like no sake ever could. It was so restricting and suffocating, Sasuke thought he would choke on it. His brother…had ruined everything.

tap tap tap TapTapTAP

Sasuke jerked his head to where the sound of tapping metal was coming from. It was in his backyard, there was not mistaking it. Someone _was _here. Sasuke wondered what anyone could possibly be doing in his yard and when he heard the metal clinking sound, the sickly silver of his brother's katana flitted through his mind.

Sasuke roughly grabbed his Kunai from his side pouch and crept silently to the sliding back door, the drunken stagger eliminated from his gait. He stopped for a moment as he lifted his hand to the edge of the screen. His eyes were hard as he prepared himself to see his brother. Would he freeze up? Would he be killed or ignored like he wasn't worth the effort? Yes, Sasuke was still a bit drunk, yes he was weak and his chakra was thoroughly spent but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered if Itachi was still alive and breathing. Nothing would truly matter until the day that man was dead.

_Do I hate you enough yet, Brother?_

He threw wide the door and flung his kunai at the figure standing in the yard. Sasuke expected the real fight to begin after Itachi said whatever chilling message he came to deliver. He strained his eyes, waiting to see his brother's lightning fast reflexes only to witness a flailing, loud squawk of indignation as the shadow leapt away.

"Hey, teme! What's the big idea, you asshole?!"

Sasuke stopped short at that. That wasn't Itachi. It was…

"Naruto?"

"Yeah, you jerk-off! What's your problem? I could have been hurt-out of the blue attacks to a comrade! Not that I should be worried, your aim was terrible-"

Sasuke scowled and shut the screen door behind him as he walked out to meet the boy, still partially hidden in shadow.

"What are you doing in my yard?" Sasuke asked, tersely. The adrenalin he'd felt moments ago was all too quickly leaving his system. Sasuke hoped his coordination didn't suffer because of it.

At once the Blonde's face transformed into a bright smile, "Listen, you're going to be so excited when you see what I got-" He motioned to the pair of metal poles standing tall in the ground and a box full of hammers and other odd ends and well as netting fabric piled in a heap at their feet.

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow, "What is this junk, and why again are you in my yard?"

Naruto frowned, "It's NOT 'junk', it's a _hammock_."

There was a pause while Naruto waited for Sasuke to become dually impressed. When that didn't happen the boy continued;

"No, you don't get it, Sasuke, it's a hammock. Do you know what a hammock is?-"

"I know what a hammock is,_ dobe_-"

"I don't think you do," Naruto said seriously. "A hammock is the ultimate in comfort and relaxation. It's carefully designed to support the back and the neck, making napping the best thing ever."

"Did you read that off of the box?"

"Nah, but the guy I bought it from told me all about it," Naruto leaned in closer and got the tiniest bit quieter. "He said that this was the _very last one_ and that he was planning on saving it for himself…" Naruto flashed a cocky grin, "but I won him over in the end."

Sasuke paused and before he was even going to go into that, a very important question had yet to be answered.

"Yes, but why are you in my yard?"

Naruto rolled his eyes like Sasuke had asked the most obvious question in the world and bent over to retrieve the roped netting from the ground.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke," he chided. "I live in an apartment. I don't have a yard to put this in." He sighed. "I had planned on putting it in my apartment and just getting rid of my bed all together, but my land lady showed up and started yelling about 'smashing holes' into her property and eviction and this and that. I swear, she's even crankier than you, if that seems possible-"

"That doesn't explain why it's in _my _yard." Sasuke glared and Naruto looked at him curiously for a moment.

Naruto could tell that something was a little off with Sasuke, but he couldn't come to any conclusions. Sasuke was speaking a lot more than he usually did, his movements weren't as efficient. His gaze wasn't as sharp as usual, Naruto would go so far as to say it was a bit glazed, and even though Naruto felt it to be completely in character for Sasuke to throw weaponry at strangers and friends, the kunai was slow and a weak attempt at best.

_He must be really tired._

"It's in your yard, teme, because there is nowhere else in the world for it to go." Naruto started ticking off his fingers, "I thought of Iruka, Sakura, Kakashi, Shikamaru and you-and you are the only one who this will work with."

"Oh?" asked Sasuke. "And why is that?"

"I wanted to put it at Sakura's back yard but her and her parents yelled at me so that's a 'no'. Iruka said that the hammock was really cool and stuff, but he doesn't have a yard either, I don't know where Kakashi lives and Shikamaru said no too." Naruto nodded in conclusion, "that leaves you."

"Why was Shikamaru's place even in consideration?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Have you seen the Nara district? That place is beautiful. Relaxing as hell."

Sasuke shook his head, he wasn't as drunk as he was, he didn't think anyway, but he certainly wasn't himself. He briefly wondered why he didn't just end the conversation with the dobe right then and send him packing with all of his _crap _but he didn't. This felt nice. Comfortable, even.

"Why don't you just put it up in the training grounds? You can take naps there after you train."

Naruto looked at him oddly but then smiled; he was pleased Sasuke wasn't such an asshole today. Maybe he really could convince him to keep the hammock here.

"Yeah, but the training area's for training. And if it's there, then _anyone_ could use it-and break it! Besides," Naruto's expression became dark, "If I put the hammock there, Kakashi-sensei would lay in it reading porn all day while he tied to me a post. No thank you."

"But why here?" asked Sasuke, "You know that I'm not going to let you keep that thing here."

"Oh come ON," Naruto whined, "you've got this big yard, all to yourself, and the Uchiha district isn't that far away from my place at all! A quick run here and back-no sweat!"

"No."

"Wait-just look and see how it looks with the netting on-" Naruto quickly untangled himself from the hammock as Sasuke rolled his eyes. Naruto haphazardly connected the looped ends to the two poles. He fastened the knots with an extra tug to ensure their stability and stepped back besides Sasuke. He put his hands on his hips and admired his handiwork.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Sasuke looked at the lopsided netting sagging loosely between two asymmetrical poles with tools and the remains of torn packages strewn about the ground.

"Hn."

"Exactly!" Naruto bounded for the hammock like a kid at his Christmas presents. He jumped forward to the netting and Sasuke was certain that it was too cheap to hold Naruto's weight, he waited for the crash with a slight wince. But the netting held fast and Naruto landed with a giggle of absolute joy. The boy curled up and stretched out his limbs, testing the hammock for all the lounging-goodness it had promised.

"This…is…GREAT! Sasuke, you really need to try this-"

"No."

Naruto did not let Sasuke ruin his luxuriating and closed his eyes to get the full benefit. "Ahh, that's it-there's a good hammock." He dangled his foot off the edge and crossed his arms behind his head, smiling blissfully.

"You don't know what you're missing, teme," Naruto said to Sasuke in a sing-song voice, "this rocks."

Naruto stretched to various odd angles, until finally finding a suitable relaxing position once again.

"Seriously, if you didn't have such a long stick up your ass, you would find this comfortable too."

Sasuke's frowned deepened. Naruto's lewd, frankly stupid, baiting usually didn't get to him but tonight it just grated him the wrong way. Who was _he _to come to Sasuke's yard, scare the shit out of _him, _bother him with his insistent, bullshit rambling and then insult him in such a way? Who _did _that?

"But I understand, Sasuke, I do," Naruto continued in a smug fashion, eyes still closed, "I understand that it's impossible for you to have fun. If I had such a blunt object crammed in my ass, I too wouldn't enjoy sitting either. I don't blame you," he assured mockingly, "but it just saddens me to see you so _unhappy."_

Sasuke understood that those last words were hollow, a joke, but something in them struck a wrong chord with the emotionally fluctuating Sasuke.

"Get you and your trash out of my yard before I hurt you, dobe." Sasuke's voice was chilled and his eyes were serious but Naruto didn't really understand how that could have infuriated him so much.

Anyway, with Sasuke's pervious attack, Naruto figured he could outrun him if he took it too far. It was all fair. After all, how many times had Sasuke wound his clock?

"I won't leave until you try it out," he said. "You're just downing it without really knowing anything about it and that's hardly fair."

Sasuke was getting so angry, and he knew it was a bit irrational but he didn't care. He knew that he was the one who extended this conversation and that this was partially his fault but he needed Naruto to leave _right now. _

"Fine!" Sasuke stormed over to where Naruto was laying and Naruto snapped his eyes open at the approaching, black-haired tornado and made a move to get out of the hammock but got tangled further in its net.

"Hey!-"

Naruto awaited the pummeling but was surprised when Sasuke shoved him over roughly and jumped in the hammock besides him. Naruto froze, utterly shocked, while Sasuke wiggled angrily to adjust his body into the net besides Naruto's.

There was a lengthy pause.

"I…" Naruto was unsure of how to continue, Sasuke was laying next to him closely in the equivalent of a _bed. _Sasuke never liked physical contact unless it was him beating someone within an inch of their life in battle. But here he was; some would go so far as to use the word 'snuggled' next to Naruto with his arms stubbornly crossed as he closed his eyes. The Uchiha's breath was hot on the side of Naruto's neck making him inexplicably flustered.

Naruto cleared his throat, "I…I could've moved for you-"

"Shut up," snapped Sasuke, "I'm trying it out so you'll leave me the hell alone."

There was a silence. Sasuke had never been this close to Naruto, not like this. He breathed evenly and kept his eyes closed. He had initially done this to get Naruto to leave but now, with their bodies curving together in the hammock, everything being so quiet; Sasuke didn't want Naruto to leave at all.

Shit, he was moody tonight. But the fact was that if Naruto left there'd be nothing for Sasuke to look forward to other than an empty house, an empty neighborhood. Alone.

"So," Naruto tried after a moment with a hint of a nervous laugh, "What...do you think?"

Sasuke didn't want to answer because the sooner he replied the sooner Naruto would leave but he realized how horribly awkward this must be for Naruto. He suppressed a smirk.

"It's not bad," He said slowly.

Sasuke could feel Naruto's smile, "I knew you'd see it my way!" Naruto said, all awkwardness forgotten, "that's why I brought it here-"

"But this was your last choice." Sasuke murmured more to himself than to Naruto.

Sasuke had said it with finality but Naruto sensed a question in it. The blonde gave him a funny look, as if trying to see what trick laid waiting in that wording.

"Yeah, but…" He didn't really know what to say.

Sasuke felt only a little disheartened by that. He wondered why he wasn't more disappointed in it but then he remembered that Naruto was his last choice and he…

Sasuke sighed. "I _guess _that having this ugly thing around wouldn't be so terrible."

Naruto threw up an arm and whooted in excitement, making the hammock sway dangerously to the right, almost throwing the two of them off. Sasuke and Naruto flailed for a moment, stabilizing the rocking hammock, and then smiled at each other when the thing stilled.

Naruto saw Sasuke's small, watery smile and wondered why Sasuke was acting so weird. But he really couldn't figure it out; he didn't want to. This was so odd a few moments ago but now it was so...comfortable. Naruto really didn't want to go back to an empty apartment. This hammock, his best friend, the moon was so pretty- he really couldn't think of a better way to spend his night. He'd enjoy this warm feeling in his stomach until the bastard told him to leave.

Sasuke expected Naruto to get up or tell him to get up so he could enjoy his new toy properly, but Naruto said nothing. Sasuke said nothing. They both laid there for what seemed like hours in companionable silence until they fell asleep.

* * *

FIN

((That land lady's really not going to appreciate that broken door in the morning))

Alright, thanks for reading and tell me what you think if you feel so inclined!

Over and OUT~  
SAM!-30o0BATH


End file.
